Soviet death rate falls with less alcoholism

Press, 20 February 1987, Page 24

Soviet death rate falls with less alcoholism

NZPA-AP Moscow The death rate among working-age Russians has dropped for the first time in many years because of the campaign by the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, against alcoholism, the official Tass news agency said.

Tass said the death rate “among the able-bodied population” had fallen from 510 per 100,000 in

1984 to 432 per 100,000 last year, a 15 per cent decline.

In absolute figures, Tass said, 119,000 fewer work-ing-age people died last year than in 1984. It defined the age group under study as women from 18 to 55 and men from 18 to 60.

Tass said it was the first drop in the mortality rate in “many years,” but did

not say when the last decline occurred.

“Demographers hold that the current fall in the mortality rate has been the result of the drive to combat addiction to alcohol, which has been launched in the U.S.S.R. since 1985,” it said. In May, 1985, Mr Gorbachev announced a cut in production of vodka and other strong drinks, shortened the hours during which liquor could be sold and raised the legal drinking age from 18 to 21.

Tass said 33 per cent fewer people died of jobrelated injuries last year than in 1984. It said most such fatalities were caused by drinking.

Death from heart diseases, also linked to alcohol abuse, dropped by 12.5 per cent, and fatal respiratory diseases were down one-third, Tass said. The news agency noted, however, that cancer deaths are increasing and that cancer has become the third leading killer in the Soviet Union, behind blood-circulation diseases and accidents.